The Online TV Revolution

Updated: December 15, 2011 2:14AM

ST. PAUL, Minn. — It doesn’t matter if their next matchup isn’t until Jan. 31 and that they are miles apart. The topic of Blackhawks center Dave Bolland apparently still bothers the Vancouver Canucks.

Bolland created a stir in Vancouver after playing along with the hosts of “Blackhawks Live” on WGN-AM (720) and the Hawks- friendly crowd at Harry Caray’s on Monday by referring to Canucks stars Henrik and Daniel Sedin as “sisters” he wouldn’t want on his team and saying there are “weirdos” in the city of Vancouver.

It wasn’t the first time Bolland has poked fun at the Sedins, and it probably won’t be the last, especially if the bitter rivals meet in the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

But Bolland’s latest comments, which came during a show in which fans ask questions, went viral, then reached another level when the Canucks, who are in Raleigh, N.C., for a game Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes, were asked about them.

“When you have comments like Bolland’s, he’s obviously an individual whose IQ is probably the size of a bird seed and he has a face that only a mother could look at,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault told Vancouver reporters in Raleigh.

“We’re not talking about a junior league here or a bush league. We’re talking about the National Hockey League, where they have professional players who get involved in community. … And to have guys like this trying to act like comedians, it’s just not the right thing to do.”

Bolland took the high road when asked about the Canucks’ remarks after the Hawks defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday.

“Between us, I have the utmost respect for the Sedin twins, Alain Vigneault and all the Vancouver Canucks,” Bolland said. “It was just a little bit of tongue-in-cheek we had at the little radio show with some of the fans.”

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Three goals in the opening period Saturday were just enough for the Gophers.

Minnesota State Mankato rallied for one goal in the second period and one in the third but still lost 3-2 at Mariucci Arena before an announced crowd of 9,710.

Freshman Kyle Rau’s 11th goal of the season, late in the first period, turned out be his fifth game-winner.

By sweeping the Mavericks — Friday’s score was 4-2 — the Gophers (13-4-1, 10-2-0 WCHA) remained in first place in the WCHA race with 20 points, one ahead of surging Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota State (3-12-1, 2-9-1) had a dangerous-looking three-on-one rush with 40 seconds left in the game, but defenseman Justin Holl broke it up.

"One of their players tried to saucer a pass, and [the puck] hit the shaft of my stick," Holl said, "and I knocked it away."

Whew.

Goalie Kent Patterson stopped 26 shots for the Gophers, Austin Lee 37 for the Mavericks.

The Gophers wanted a faster pace in this second game, and it sure had it in the opening period. They scored three nicely spaced-out goals — early, middle and late — on 15 shots.

"[The Gophers] are a good hockey team," Mavericks coach Troy Jutting said. "They have good players who make smart plays and keep you pushed to the outside and attack the puck."

Jutting said his struggling team, 0-6-1 in its past seven games, committed a dumb early penalty and lost too many one-on-one battles the first 20 minutes.

"It was obviously important for us to get off to a great start, which we did," Gophers coach Don Lucia said. "We made some nice plays."

Freshman Seth Ambroz of the Gophers scored in the third minute with three seconds left on a power play. Camped in front of the net, he deflected a pass past Lee. It was his third goal of the season, but his first since he scored twice in the season opener Oct. 7.

"Hopefully, I can keep them coming," Ambroz said. "I like those little greasy goals."

Captain Taylor Matson gave the Gophers a 2-0 lead from the left circle at 8:24. Nate Condon, from behind the net, dumped the puck in front, and it squirted directly to Matson, who scored his second goal in two nights.

"We had a lot more jump in our step," Matson said. "It was just a result of wanting it more tonight and more intensity."

Rau’s goal, at 18:31, came on an easy tap-in. Defenseman Mark Alt, at the right point, found Rau alone by post on the opposite side.

The Gophers, now 8-1-0 at home, wasted several good chances in the second period to expand their three-goal lead. Instead, Zach Lehrke of the Mavericks put in a rebound on a power play in the third minute.

Early in the third period, on a five-on-three power play, Lehrke scored again from the top of the left circle, and the Mavericks were within 3-2.

But the Mavericks had just three other shots in the period. They finished 2-for-9 on the power play, the Gophers 1-for-5.

Twenty-two penalties were called, 13 on the home team.

"We got into penalty problems, which allowed them to get back in the game," Lucia said, "but I liked to way we closed out the third period."

There was a lot worth liking. Patterson had to make just one close-range shot in the final period, and Holl stopped the last rush.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Kirk Muller is quickly grasping how much work he has to do with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Canes’ new coach lost his second straight game Thursday as the New York Rangers used a big second period to help themselves to a 5-3 victory at the RBC Center. But Muller was more concerned about his players, who have lost four in a row and 12 of the past 15, than any personal record.

The game over, Muller kept the media waiting a few extra minutes outside the locker room as he addressed the team.

“I said, ’Hey, no one said this thing is going to change overnight,’” Muller said. “We’ve got to do baby steps.”

One positive step, Muller told the players, was Anthony Stewart coming to the defense of Jeff Skinner midway through the third period. After the Rangers’ Brian Boyle went head-hunting on the Canes’ leading scorer and rammed Skinner into the boards, Stewart went after Boyle, throwing punches.

Skinner, who scored his 11th goal of the season in the first period, was not injured. Stewart received a fighting major plus an instigator penalty and a game misconduct, but Muller said he didn’t mind.

“I thought it was great,” Muller said. “We’re looking at all the positive situations right now that we find, and I thought ’Stewy’ did the right thing.

“That’s what we want. We want to get these guys bonded together. Skinner is one of our top players …. We want these guys to be a family and protect each other.”

But Muller also wants the Canes (8-15-4) to play well together, and soon.

On Thursday, Muller hired John MacLean as an assistant coach. MacLean, once Muller’s teammate with the New Jersey Devils, was an assistant for the Devils and New Jersey’s head coach for 33 games last season. Muller said MacLean would work with the forwards and head up the penalty killing.

His staff complete, Muller must look to both restore confidence, and get more sound play from the Canes. A goal by Jiri Tlusty early in the first and Skinner late in the period gave the Canes a 2-1 lead, but the Rangers (14-5-3) reeled off three goals in a five-minute span in the second to grab a 4-2 lead.

Moments after the Canes killed off a penalty, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh ripped a shot from the left circle past Cam Ward for a 2-2 tie. Marian Gaborik scored on a two-on-one rush about three minutes later, and Sean Avery blasted a shot from the slot to make it 4-2 at 13:47 of the second.

“I thought we outplayed them for the most part and then five minutes there … bang, bang, bang,” Canes defenseman Derek Joslin said.

Muller used his timeout at that point, telling his team to relax. When Joslin scored on a shot from the point four minutes later, the Canes had made it a 4-3 game.

But whatever energy Joslin’s goal provided was sucked away when defenseman Michael Sauer scored for the Rangers at 5:42 of the third. With backup goalie Martin Biron making 28 saves in his fifth start of the season, the Rangers won their fourth straight.

“It’s tough but we’ve got to keep working,” Skinner said. “We have to keep plugging away here. There’s some stuff we need to work on but we have to focus on the positives.”

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Less is more for the Ducks these days: hapless, rudderless, clueless, and now winless in seven games.

Their 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday at Honda Center was as confounding as any of their 16 defeats in their last 18 games. “We just seem to be dead between the ears,” Coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Ducks scored first, on a power-play blast by Francois Beauchemin, but Toronto scored the next four, striking twice in 19 seconds in the first period on a poorly defended power play and a deflection off the stick of Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa.

As Toronto piled it on — a deflection by Joey Crabb at 2:36 of the second period, a rebound by Tyler Bozak of a Phil Kessel [stats] shot 47 seconds into the third period — the Ducks sagged. Corey Perry scored for the third straight game on a close-in shot at 5:38 of the third period, but the Ducks exerted little pressure after that and Luke Schenn capped the scoring with an empty-netter at 19:48.

The Maple Leafs, rebuilt nicely by General Manager Brian Burke — who scripted the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup championship — passed Boston to sit atop the Northeast Division. The Ducks continued to spiral downward.

“It’s very obvious that we’re not playing the way we have to as a team. We’re not executing,” veteran center Saku Koivu said.

Even the usually upbeat Teemu Selanne couldn’t hide his frustration.

“There’s no mental toughness right now,” he said, and he was right.

“There’s been a lot of talking. A lot of meetings. There’s really no answer. It seems to me that nothing works. When things go bad they really go bad.

“You try to stay positive and find some bright sides, but I don’t really see any bright sides. It’s unbelievable. I have no answers.”

Selanne insisted Carlyle has 100 percent support in the locker room, but there’s a gap between what players hear and what they do on the ice. Team captain Ryan Getzlaf should be the primary link between Carlyle and the team and should lead by example if not by words, but he has been so consumed by his own struggles that Carlyle told him to step back and take less responsibility for now.

“He’s trying to wear the weight of that captaincy. These are the times when it becomes very, very heavy,” Carlyle said of Getzlaf, who is minus-13 defensively and has only four goals and 16 points in 23 games.

“And my conversations with him are based upon (that) we as a coaching staff think he should just focus on playing hockey. Anything else should be a sidebar, be it any little integral part that the captain is normally responsible for, leave that up to us. Focus totally on what you can control, and can control his level of play, his work ethic and get back to the player we know he can be.”

Getzlaf is far from the dominant center who scored 91 points in 2008-09. Or 76 points in 67 games last season. “He’s not the player and he shows it and demonstrates it and he’s very frustrated with himself,” Carlyle said.

General Manager Bob Murray hasn’t panicked. He has said he won’t dismiss Carlyle and he hasn’t traded any of his big three forwards — Getzlaf, Perry or Bobby Ryan — though he has had offers. “Management has been so patient and that’s what a team hopes. It’s tough for everybody,” Selanne said.

“The leaders try to do as good job as we can. And still the leadership in this room has to do that out there,” he said, pointing to the ice. “I hate to say this, but they should not be talking anymore here. We all know what to do. Just show it there. It’s very simple.”

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PHILADELPHIA — Just thinking about it is enough to give you a headache.

So it’s no wonder the concussion issue causes fans’ eyes to glaze over while team and league officials fall back on the trusty old “no comment.”

But I found myself thinking of this pressing sports matter in a new way Wednesday night. While watching the Flyers’ come-from-behind overtime win in Buffalo, it occurred to me that Claude Giroux’s brilliance needs to be savored just a bit more because, in the NHL, it could be taken away with a single collision.

This wasn’t an isolated, macabre thought. I’d just read John Branch’s stunning and terrifying three-part New York Times [NYT] series on the life and death of NHL enforcer Derek Boogard. One of the more disturbing aspects of Boogard’s tragic slide into depression and drug dependency was the way the NHL and his former teams stonewalled medical information and refused to acknowledge the impact of concussions.

Meanwhile, the eagerly anticipated renewal of the Flyers’ rivalry with Pittsburgh on Thursday night was diminished by the absence of Sidney Crosby. After missing 10 months because of concussions, Crosby was sidelined again because of hits he took in a game this week. This time, the Penguins say that it is just for two games, and that his concussion testing showed no further damage.

Boogard and Crosby couldn’t be much more different as players. The former was a fighter, pure and simple, who had to play through pain and injuries because he was otherwise expendable. Crosby is one of the game’s biggest stars and has the financial security and clout to take every precaution.

What they and every other athlete have in common is a brain — a fragile mass of tissue floating inside their helmeted skulls.

If you’re already getting a headache, or your eyes are glazing over, think about the Flyers. Eric Lindros. Keith Primeau. Simon Gagne. The careers of how many superstar players have been ended, shortened, or profoundly affected by concussions?

Of course, it’s not just the NHL. The NFL has been having its own long-term struggle with the issue. Just this week, a group of former players announced it was suing the league because teams gave the players a medication that masked concussion symptoms. The players were expected to return to the field, even though it was almost certainly not safe.

And concussions are an integral part of the Eagles’ ongoing trouble with DeSean Jackson. Everything from his apparent avoidance of contact to the team’s willingness to risk a long-term contract is influenced by the concussions Jackson suffered earlier in his Eagles career. He is the proverbial hit away from having to reassess the wisdom of playing football at all.

Concussions can happen in any physical activity. A player can take an elbow in basketball or get hit with a fastball in baseball. A recent study suggests that heading a soccer ball repeatedly can damage the brain.

But hockey and football are at risk of becoming known as concussion sports rather than collision sports. Both have tried to legislate head shots out of their games. Both have been slow to accept increasing evidence of the long-term effects of concussions.

Boogard was only 28 when he died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and alcohol in 2010. According to the Times, his brain showed advanced damage that shocked researchers — the same researchers, by the way, who studied the damaged brain of former Eagles great Andre Waters after his suicide.

The leagues’ reluctance to acknowledge the link between their games and these devastating consequences is understandable. The legal implications alone could be enormous. And then there is the potential loss of fan interest in watching athletes get their brains scrambled.

And yet, with the virtual ink still wet on the Times’ Boogard series, the crowd in the Wells Fargo Center roared approval when the Flyers’ Harry Zolnierczyk and Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy dropped gloves in the second period. A boxing-style bell still rings when a fight begins. Teams still show highlights of fights on the big arena screens to get the fans riled up.

There’s only so much that can be done to prevent concussions within the flow of hockey and football games. They are violent sports. Period. But only hockey allows and encourages bare-knuckle brawling to continue as part of its sport.

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Updated: December 1, 2011 9:49PM

The praise of rookie Marcus Kruger was already pouring in before coach Joel Quenneville moved him to second-line center between stars Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa.

“He’s a very smart hockey player,” veteran forward Andrew Brunette said. “He’s gotten better as we’ve gone along. He’s an easy guy to play with.”

Quenneville is hoping Sharp and Hossa feel the same way Friday against the New York Islanders at the United Center.

“Of course, I know the guys are good with the puck, but I still need to hold onto it and try to make plays for myself as well,” said Kruger, who has two goals and seven points in 24 games.

Kruger said his confidence has grown, and there’s also a sense of satisfaction after being cut in training camp. He was recently moved to wing on Dave Bolland’s line after spending most of the season on the fourth line.

“You want to get as many responsibilities as you can out there,” said Kruger, a key part of the second power-play unit. “I’m just trying to get more and more ice time.”

Quenneville said Kruger is deceptively strong with the puck.

“He controls and influences a lot of pucks,” he said. “He comes up with a lot of pucks in tight areas. . . . [But] the thing that got our attention is his patience and play recognition on the offensive side of things.”

Slap shots

Jonathan Toews was named the NHL’s second star of November for tallying nine goals and nine assists. He had five multiple-point games and three game-winning goals.

Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland and Steve Montador sat out practice Thursday, but are expected to play Friday. Corey Crawford will start in goal.

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TAMPA, Fla. — New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer placed a big emphasis on an early December game.

Zach Parise and Adam Henrique both had a goal and two assists to lead the Devils past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Monday night.

Parise, Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk each scored in the second period as the Devils broke open a tie game after both teams scored twice in the first.

Petr Sykora and Dainius Zubrus had the other goals for New Jersey, which had lost five of seven.

“It’s an important game,” DeBoer said. “I think we’re both spinning our wheels a little bit where we’re sitting in the standings and both trying to get some traction and move up. It was a key two points.”

Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist for the Lightning, losers of seven of eight. Steve Downie and Blair Jones also scored.

“We’re finding ways to lose game right now,” Stamkos said. “We showed, obviously, a lot of character like we always do. That second period killed us. We dug ourselves a whole to big to climb out of.”

Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson was replaced by Mathieu Garon early in the second after allowing three goals on 12 shots.

“He’ll bounce back,” Lightning coach Guy Boucher said.

Roloson, who helped Tampa Bay reach the 2011 Eastern Conference finals, has struggled this year and has played in just three of the Lightning’s last 10 games.

Parise scored 56 seconds into the second on an odd-man rush to make it 3-2. After Kovalchuk had a breakaway goal at 5:42, Henrique gave the Devils the three-goal advantage during a short-handed 2-on-none with 6:37 to go in the period.

Henrique had a seven-game points streak (2 goals, 7 assists) end in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Montreal. Parise assisted on two of the second-period goals.

Stamkos had a power-play goal at 9:29 of the third, and added his 18th goal of the season in the final minute with the Lightning net empty. The center had not scored a goal in his previous five games.

Sykora put the Devils up 1-0 on a backhand rebound just 28 seconds into the game, ending a personal seven-game goal-scoring drought. It also gave the right wing 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) in 39 career games against Tampa Bay.

New Jersey went ahead 2-0 when Zubrus re-directed Matt Taormina’s shot during a power play at 5:38 of the first.

Downie cut the deficit to 2-1 from the left circle with 2:26 left in the first. Jones pulled Tampa Bay even at 2-all after skating in from the right wing boards and beating Johan Hedberg with a backhander at 18:54.

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Updated: December 4, 2011 10:52PM

Coach Joel Quenneville doesn’t want the Blackhawks to get ahead of themselves. One game of successful penalty-killing doesn’t mean much — especially against a team like the St. Louis Blues, who struggle mightily with the man advantage — unless it continues.

‘‘We don’t want to get too excited,’’ Quenneville said
after the Hawks killed off four penalties in their 5-2 victory against the Blues on Saturday. ‘‘It’s one game.’’

But at a time when their defensive efforts have drawn criticism, it’s a sign the Hawks are capable of being good defensively, whether on the penalty kill or at even strength, just like they were against the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings on their circus trip.

The Hawks’ plus-6 goal differential after 27 games leaves much to be desired, especially because they’re one of the highest scoring teams in the league. As of Sunday, the Hawks and Sharks were tied at the bottom of the NHL with a penalty-kill rating of 75 percent.

It’s just a matter of finding consistency. The Hawks have won four of their last five games, but imagine how good they would be if they were more reliable defensively in all situations.

‘‘It’s a team mentality that we’ve got to be better,’’ Quenneville said. ‘‘It’s a commitment without the puck [in] all three zones, whether it’s the depth of our third forward in the offensive zone, getting through us in the middle ice, how we play in our own end, defending the rush better [and] playing around our net better. That’s probably the area that’s been our sore point is around our net. That’s where we have to get more predictable.’’

It’s a message Quenneville reinforces often. He said the Blues’ first goal Saturday — in which David Perron got close to goalie Ray Emery with Sean O’Donnell and Steve Montador defending — was preventable.

As center Dave Bolland maintains, the Hawks have to be ‘‘battling.’’ It’s about challenging opponents for pucks, defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and others blocking shots, clearing away rebounds, knowing the assignments and more.

The Blues have the worst power play in the NHL, but the Hawks believe they’ve gained confidence after allowing just three shots on goal while on the penalty kill.

‘‘Sometimes people only think that confidence helps you offensively,’’ center Jonathan Toews said. ‘‘But when you try and do everything right and you work your tail off on the penalty kill and things always seem to go wrong, it does hurt your confidence a little bit.

‘‘So when you get a night like [Saturday], we just have to keep working hard the way we did, and we can get some big penalty kills for our team.’’

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Updated: December 8, 2011 12:28AM

Corey Crawford won’t lie about his struggles or frustrations. The Blackhawks’ No. 1 goalie knows he can be much better, and he’s doing his best to get a grip on it all.

“Yeah, it’s bothering me,” Crawford said Wednesday before the Hawks left for their game Thursday against the New York Islanders.

Ray Emery will start in Crawford’s place, but it’s too early to declare a full-blown goalie controversy. While there were concerns of a potential sophomore slump entering the season, Crawford isn’t your typical second-year player.

Crawford, 26, has dealt with the unremitting disappointment of being cut training camp after training camp as the Hawks continued to bring in new goalies. He handled everything well, toiling away in the minors before winning the No. 1 job last season and earning a three-year deal. So there is evidence to believe he can turn things around, despite his 3.00 goals-against average and .896 save percentage

“I don’t like losing. I don’t like getting pulled. It’s frustrating,” said Crawford, who was chased by the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday. “But the worst thing I can do is to start thinking about it too much and start putting everything on my shoulders. I just have to keep doing what I’ve been doing pretty much my whole career.

“It seems like it’s just been up and down. Every second game seems to be a rough one for me. I’m just trying to work hard and battle through it. That’s the only way I see getting out of it.”

With the Hawks not playing again until Sunday against the San Jose Sharks, coach Joel Quenneville said Crawford can use the time to work with goalie coach Stephane Waite and regain some confidence, “whether it’s handling the puck, rebound control [or] fighting through traffic.”

“Steph will be working with him the next few days to get that game back where we need it to be,” Quenneville said.

Having a veteran such as Emery at a time like this could prove to be a great insurance policy for the Hawks. Rookie Alexander Salak, whom Emery competed against in the preseason, hasn’t fared too well with the Rockford IceHogs.

“The games [Emery has] played, he’s gotten points in every game but the one game which was our toughest as a team the whole year [a 9-2 loss in Edmonton],” Quenneville said.

The Hawks’ defensive play in front of both goalies has been lacking, and Quenneville reiterated Wednesday “that it has to be better.” But Crawford said that “no team is perfect” and that he still has to make stops. He also has been a victim of some odd goals, whether it’s fluky deflections or long bouncing shots.

“Everyone gets those kind of goals scored on them,” Crawford said. “I’m not looking at it like I’m the only one that’s getting bad luck.”

Technically speaking, Crawford thinks his game has been “pretty fine.” The biggest difference to him is that he’s not making the big saves he once did.

“I’m still confident. I still think I can do the job,” Crawford said. “I’m not worried.”

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The Timberwolves’ lockout-shortened 66-game schedule is out. Here are the highlights:

• They open Dec. 26 at Target Center against Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma City. They will play six of their first seven games at home, but it’s brutally tough.

• LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Miami arrive in the season’s third game, Dec. 30. Dirk Nowitzki and defending NBA champs Dallas, San Antonio and Memphis also come to Target Center early.

• The Wolves’ six nationally televised games are their most since 2005-06.

• The only really big Eastern Conference star who won’t appear here this season is Dwight Howard (IF he’s still with Orlando then). Derrick Rose (Jan. 10), Amare Stoudemire/Carmelo Anthony (Feb. 11) and Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/Ray Allen (March 30) all visit.

• Kobe Bryant and the Lakers visit twice: Jan. 29 and March 9.

• The Wolves will play on three consecutive nights twice, not the limit of three times as Kevin Love fatalistically predicted.

JERRY ZGODA

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